The Murphy Method Blog

Murphy Henry

We had a new guitar student join the jam tonight which was fun. Cody is a delightful young man, age 20, who lives near me and has been taking lessons for about four or five months. (If you read my General Store column in Bluegrass Unlimited you will have seen a reference to his father, Elvis, who plows our driveway in the winter. What did we ever do without him?)

Cody was welcomed heartily by Mark, Ellen, Bob Mc, and Bob Van. Susan had to cancel at the last minute and was missed, and Logan was absent for the second week in a row and is now on probation!

In deference to Cody, I tried to choose songs that had easy chord patterns. (So, no “Banjo in the Hollow,” no “Cripple Creek,” and no “Old Joe Clark”!) Our set list was as follows:

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

Blue Ridge Cabin Home

I Saw the Light

John Hardy

Lonesome Road Blues

I’ll Fly Away

Then we did one of the songs Cody has been working on, “Folsom Prison Blues” in the key of E. (He’s a big Johnny Cash fan. He also wants to learn “A Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Jr., but I’ll have to learn that one first, myself.) We’ve never done anything in the key of E at the jam, so I quickly went over the vamping (move all the basic Key of G vamps backwards three frets) and told Ellen to capo up four and play out of C position. (Also known as “four C” to many bluegrass players.) Bob Van was really slapping the bass in the Johnny Cash style, which added a lot of pizzazz and authenticity to the song.

We closed out, as always, with “Wagon Wheel” which, unfortunately, has really quick chord changes. But, hey, it’s our theme song, so what could I do?

At one point in the proceedings, Cody asked if there were any flatpicks that were easier to grip, since he almost dropped his. (I told him that was pretty normal.) Bob Van whipped out a pick with a hole in the middle for Cody to try. At the end of the evening, Cody said he liked the pick pretty well and he guessed he’d go home and drill a hole in the pick he had. Got to admire a man who is comfortable with power tools!

There was much laughter all through the jam and a good time was had by all. And, perhaps best of all, Cody said he’d be back. We didn’t scare him off! We must be getting better!

Murphy Henry

As you read this, Red and I are on the road, headed for Nashville and the IBMA World of Bluegrass where we will set up our Murphy Method booth at FanFest. (Friday and Saturday, if you want to make last minute plans to come see us!) Casey, as you may know from reading this blog and the Bluegrass Blog, is already there (since she lives in Nashville anyhow) along with my Fiddle Sister Patty Pullen who is staying at Casey’s house. Which is where we will be holed up also during the hours when we are not tending our booth!
Tonight (Thursday) Casey and Patty and I will be attending the IBMA Awards Show which will feature none other than Steve Martin! Also, the Dillards are being inducted into the IBMA Hall of Fame and I’m almost as excited about that as seeing Steve Martin. (You may know the Dillards best from their appearances as the Darling Family on the Andy Griffith Show. The great banjo player Doug Dillard is also the author of “Banjo in the Hollow”!) I hope we’ll have some pictures to post on Friday!

Now, a word about the Misfit Jam. We had an observer tonight, a former beginning banjo student who has been taking some time off. He stayed for the whole hour so I figured he was enjoying himself. Mark and Susan acquitted themselves admirably on banjo, while Ellen, Bobby V. and I held up the rhythm section. We were having so much fun, especially when we played “Banjo in the Hollow” and “Cripple Creek” FAST, that I declared, “Who needs Logan?” (He had ditched us for College Night at the mall. Can you believe that?)

The quote of the night was from Ellen. She was explaining to our guest that this is a Misfit jam and said that tonight we had “a whole lot of misses and a couple of fits.” I said, “That’s going in the blog” and promptly wrote it down next to Jody Stecher’s picture on the front of Banjo Newsletter.

Ah yes, and the title, Grip Packed To Travel. That’s from the chorus of “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues”: My grip is packed to travel/And I’m scratching gravel/For that Blue Ridge far away.”

As I write this, my grip is currently lying open and partially packed on the floor of my bedroom. Guess I’ll go throw a few more things in it, read a few pages about Jamie and Claire, and hit the hay. Oh, yes, and there’s supper to eat. I think I’ll do that first. Hope to see you in Nashville!

Murphy Henry

While Casey and I were on our vacation last week, the Misfits got together again at Mark and Ellen’s house. Ellen was kind enough to file this report. Thanks, Ellen! My own editorial comments are in brackets.

What a jam we had last night! It ran the full gamut of human emotion. Well, maybe that’s an oversell. There was lots of laughter. There were occasional outbursts: “I hate that song!” [That, I understand, would have been Logan...] And there were a couple of train wrecks. (There were, however, no visible tears.)

But there were also moments when we were all playing the same song at the same time, and it was glorious. And we clutched onto those sweet victories!

Bob V, on guitar last night, pretty much pulled us together (and, at times, that took a lotta pullin’!) passing breaks to the banjos— Bob Mc, Logan and Mark—then taking a guitar break himself now and again. Logan took a few guitar breaks, too. I was just happy when my guitar and I were playing the right notes in the background.

After running through the usuals—Cripple Creek, Boil Them Cabbage, John Hardy, Old Joe Clark, Blue Ridge Cabin Home, I Saw the Light, Foggy Mountain Breakdown—we ventured farther. Some of our experimenting took us to songs we’d tried a little at previous jams, like When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, Salty Dog, Circle, and Bury Me Beneath the Willow. But we also let loose on tunes like I’ll Go Stepping Too (”The Cat Song,” as Bob V calls it), Your Cheatin’ Heart (sung by Bob V magnificently), and Foggy Mountain Special (led by Logan and that purely tickled the whole group—we made him play it a second time). Concern was expressed that you would never allow us to gather again, since we strayed so far off the Murphy path . . . but we were bold and kept straying.

Several of us were feeling pretty rusty when we started, so the jam was valuable to get us playing and working out some kinks. The un-rusty ones kept us moving. Bob V capped off the evening singing Amazing Grace, because he knows I love that song (even though an unnamed person shared how he absolutely despises it). [Logan, again, I heard.] Thanks, Bob!

The “If I’d had a camera moment”: Bob V and Logan turned to face each other (so imagine their two profiles), both of ‘em full of attitude, expressing their opinions in their unique styles, smiling all the while.

It was a great evening!

[After reading this and hearing even more about the jam in person, when we got together for this week’s picking I felt compelled to ask Bob V if he wanted to lead this jam. He wisely declined....]

Murphy Henry

Four students plus me means we had a quintet tonight. Logan and Mark were on banjos, Ellen was on guitar, and Bobby was on bass. Susan was on vacation, but Bob Mc was AWOL. (And after we’d done all that work on “I’ll Fly Away” so we could play it at the jam…)

The song selection was as follows:

Cripple Creek

John Hardy

I Saw the Light (on which Logan played his newly-learned guitar break)

Bury Me Beneath the Willow (Logan again on lead guitar)

Lonesome Road Blues

Salty Dog (so we could practice E and A chords)

Roll On Buddy

Shucking the Corn (so Logan should show off)

Wagon Wheel (we rock on this!)

And if this sounds like the jam is all about Logan, well, it’s not really but he did celebrate his 17^th birthday Sunday and we’re just so happy he’ll still hang out with us!

Last week, Mark attended the “real” jam that Susan has written about, and I asked him to tell us all about it. Here’s what he has to say:

I went to my first “Fruit Stand Jam” on Thursday evening, and took my banjo with me—although I wasn’t at all sure that I would take it out of the truck. When I arrived, about 7:30 PM, there were already roughly 30 folks listening to the music in lawn chairs, and a group of maybe a dozen musicians, all outside the building. And only one other banjo player, a teenager who joined for only one song during the time that I was listening. I was surprised that the players were facing the “audience” and kind of bunched together in a group rather than a circle, and realized that it would be very hard for me to position myself in the jam in a way that would allow me to watch someone with a guitar. And I didn’t recognize any of the songs they were playing, so I just stood off to the side and watched and listened (with my banjo still in the truck).

After a few songs, I saw Red coming up with his mandolin, so I went over and talked with him a bit while he tuned up. His son Chris and Chris’s girlfriend Jenny (who plays fiddle) joined him, and they all went inside the building, a few other pickers and strummers floated in with them, and a second small jam ensued. This one seemed less formal, and folks were arranged more in a circle, so I got my banjo out and watched Chris, who was on guitar, for any chords that I could recognize. I was mostly “fake” vamping, since I didn’t know a lot of the chords, but for the songs that were in G, C and D, I was right in there. It was a blast, although vamping standing up felt really weird the whole time—I need to practice that more. Just keeping time to the music felt good. And it was thorough enjoyment getting to listen to Red, Chris and Jenny play and sing. Ellen and I, along with Susan and Bill, had seen them all just the previous Saturday at Borders, and we all loved that “concert” as well.

I’ll definitely go back again, but I’m looking forward more to our Wednesday night Misfit’s jam.

Where, I must say, Mark acquitted himself just fine, which included re-improvising a break to Roll On Buddy. Go, Mark!

Murphy Henry

We can hardly call this a slow jam anymore, since many of the songs are starting to pick up speed. Present tonight were Logan, Mark, Susan, and Bob Mc on banjos, Ellen on guitar, and Bobby on bass.

Songs rendered:

Cripple Creek

John Hardy

I Saw The Light

Salty Dog

Blue Ridge Cabin Home

Lonesome Road Blues

I’ll Fly Away

Bury Me Beneath the Willow (Logan solo)

Bury Me Beneath the Willow (Misfits & Logan on Lead Guitar)

Wagon Wheel

We warmed up in a slightly different fashion tonight. We played “Cripple Creek” through twice in unison and then, without stopping to regroup, played individual breaks, then reunited after that for one more time through all together and then ended the song with the “long ending lick,” which is what we are calling the two-part “shave-and-a-haircut” ending lick. We then did “John Hardy” in the same manner, and were ready for prime time!

The new song tonight was “Salty Dog,” which Susan is learning, and which Logan already plays. We went over the chords (G, E, A, D) and Susan acquitted herself very well on her first “Salty Dog” outing. Logan had forgotten the high break, but after hearing Susan play it, he jumped right on it.

Another highlight was hearing Logan play a lead break to “Willow” on the GUITAR. He’d picked out the break—just single notes—by himself. He had it all but the very last line. We’d gone over that earlier in his lesson, but it was a bit much to ask him to remember those notes under pressure. So I told him to play the first part, and that I would come in and play the last line. Sounded just like we’d rehearsed it!

We worked Bobby pretty hard tonight, calling on him to sing “Salty Dog,” “I’ll Fly Away,” and “Willow” in addition to his regular songs. I just assumed he knew the words. Which he did mostly. And he’s been in bluegrass long enough to know that if you don’t know the words, you just make something up. I will have to say I thought we had a pretty good duet on “Salty Dog.”

After a rousing rendition of “Wagon Wheel” (we sing it like we mean it!), we were done. During the usual milling around afterwards we had to listen to Logan complain about how awful high school is (he’s a Junior this year) while Mark is saying to him, “These are the best years of your life! Better enjoy them!” We all are agreeing with Mark, even though we know that Logan won’t listen to us anymore than we listened to any grownups. (“Grups” is what they called them on the original Star Trek in the episode that featured Michael J. Pollard. Bluegrass connection: I just saw Michael J. in the movie Bonnie and Clyde which was showing on TV a few days ago. This is the film, of course, that featured “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” And not just any old cut of FMB, but the original version done by Lesternearl and all the Foggy Mountain Boys. It is a classic!)